Engelstad foundation gives $12.6 million to UNLV

A $12.6 million gift to UNLV will be used to create an endowment that will pay for up to 100 full-tuition scholarships, university officials announced Tuesday.

University President Neal Smatresk called it the largest active scholarship endowment in Nevada history.

He noted that the donation, from the Engelstad Family Foundation, comes at a time of extreme economic peril for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and all state agencies in Nevada. The university's state supported budget has been cut by 15 percent over the next two years.

"We needed a hero," Smatresk said. "We needed someone who would make a difference."

The Englestad Family Foundation, created after family patriarch Ralph Englestad's death in 2002, has a history of massive donations to local causes. Last year, the foundation gave $8 million to the College of Southern Nevada, the largest donation in the school's history. It also donated $20 million to the Nevada Cancer Institute.

Ralph Engelstad was the owner of the Imperial Palace. His daughter, Kris Engelstad McGarry, said the donation to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas was made in large part because of the state's dire economic conditions.

Higher education officials in Nevada fear that the Millennium Scholarship program may not last more than another few years, as its reserves are dwindling.

"Unless you get some private funding coming through, you're going to be left with kids without a college education," McGarry said.

The Engelstad Scholars program will initially fund 25 scholarships of up to $5,000 each, beginning in January 2010. From then on, as the endowment matures, it will be used to fund up to 100 scholarships a year.

Students will need to have earned a 3.25 grade-point average in high school and demonstrate financial need to qualify. As long as they keep their grades up, they could remain eligible for all four years of college. In addition, students will be required to complete 100 hours of community service through an approved charity each year.

McGarry, a UNLV graduate, said that requirement is essential. "They're getting another form of an education," she said of the community service aspect.

Smatresk hinted that the university will announce another large gift on Thursday at the annual UNLV Foundation dinner that honors donors.

It is also expected that the Foundation will announce it has reached the end of its Invent the Future campaign, a $500 million fundraising effort that kicked off in 2002.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.